The National Investigation Agency says that with the arrest of Rajendra Chowdhary the probe in the Samjhauta Express, Mecca Masjid and Ajmer blasts is almost complete. Vicky Nanjappa reports
In the second arrest in as many days in the Samjhauta Express blast case, Dhan Singh, a prime suspect, was on Monday arrested by the National Investigation Agency from Madhya Pradesh. The arrest came even as the NIA told a Panchkula court that Rajender Chaudhary alias Pehalwan, who allegedly planted a bomb in the Pakistan-bound Samjhauta Express in 2007, played a key role in the entire operation.
Capping four years of probe, the National Investigation Agency on Monday charged Swami Aseemanand and four others with triggering explosions in the cross-border Samjhauta Express in 2007 that left 68 people dead.
Pakistan on Monday welcomed Home Minister P Chidambaram's remarks about sharing the findings of the probe into the Samjhauta Express bombing, claiming that the level of cooperation on interaction on security matters had enhanced between the two nations. Welcoming his Indian counterpart's statement in this regard, Interior Minister Rehman Malik said, "I welcome the statement of Mr Chidambaram on Samjhauta Express investigations to be shared with Pakistan."
The verdict came after National Investigation Agency special judge Jagdeep Singh dismissed the plea filed by a Pakistani woman for examining eyewitnesses from her country, saying it was "devoid of any merit".
India has assured Pakistan that it would not hesitate from sharing the findings of Samjhauta Express blast case but expressed inability to do so till the probe is not completed as Indian laws do not permit it. This message was conveyed by Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao during her meeting with her Pakistani counterpart Salman Bashir.
As the NIA takes over the probe into the February 2007 blast on the Samjhauta Express, Vicky Nanjappa reports on the long and winding road the investigation has taken so far
Aseemanand, a member of right-wing Hindu group Abhinav Bharat, has been in jail since December 2010.
The arrested BSF man, identified as Mohammad Sajjad, is a native of Sarola village in the Rajauri district of the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir, who was deployed in the 74 BSF Battalion at Bhuj in July 2021, the ATS said in a release.
The pact also includes continuing the freight services till 2010.
Among the Pakistani victims, five are male and two female.
The two countries faced great problems in identification of the deceased passengers.
Amjad Ali, hailing from Mustafabad in Lahore, had come to India without a valid passport or visa last November and was trying to board the train last evening
The Samjhauta Express, which was expected to carry fans from Lahore to Attari, had to be cancelled due to some "technical reasons".
Seven years after Samjhauta Express blasts, a court on Friday framed murder, sedition and other charges against right wing Hindu activist Swami Aseemanand and three others paving the way for start of trial.
Luggage restrictions on Samjhauta train during cricket series\n\n\n\n
The trains would be on the lines of the Samjhauta Express.
The train will leave Delhi every Wednesday and Sunday at 2100 IST and reach Attari at 0440 IST the next day. The return journey will be every Thursday and Monday at 2005 IST.
Foreign Secretary S Jaishankar and his Pakistani counterpart Aizaz Ahmed Chaudhry met for nearly 90 minutes, during which sticky issues -- including probe into Pathankot terror attack, 26/11 trial and Samjhauta Express blast investigations -- figured.
'Daniel Craig was my first choice but he requested if we could allow some time as he was also being considered to be the next James Bond.'
Judge Dinesh Gupta let off the right-wing activist and six others, giving them "benefit of doubt".
The men targetting Mohan Bhagwat were convinced he was the wrong choice to head the RSS, an NIA agent told Rediff.com's Vicky Nanjappa.
In shocking revelations, Swami Aseemanand claims though RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat was not directly involved with the terror strikes, he was aware that such attacks were being planned. Vicky Nanjappa finds out more
'The country's home ministry has misused investigating agencies in the most illegal, corrupt, inhuman and unjustified way to trap innocents like me in terror traps,' says RSS leader Indresh Kumar, who terror accused Swami Aseemanand alleged knew of plots to bomb the Samjhauta Express, the Mecca Masjid and the Ajmer Dargah.
"If Hindus had been terrorists, then no other terrorists have existed."
In a statement that is expected to erupt a huge political row, Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde said on Sunday, "The RSS and BJP are running terrorist training camps to spread Hindu terrorism."
The National Investigation Agency on Saturday formally arrested key accused in 2007 Samjhauta Express blast case, Lokesh Sharma, in connection with the 2006 Malegaon bomb blasts case.
In a major breakthrough in the 2007 Samjhauta Express blast case, the National Investigation Agency arrested Rajendra (Pahalwan) Chowdhary, suspected to have planted bombs in the Pakistan-bound train, from Ujjain in Madhya Pradesh.
Sushilkumar Shinde's deeply prejudiced and communal stewardship of the Union ministry of home affairs needs to be condemned by all right-thinking persons, notes B Raman.
In a new twist to the case relating to sensational murder of right wing activist Sunil Joshi, the National Investigation Agency Wednesday alleged Lokesh Sharma and Rajendra Chowdhary, accused in Malegaon and Samjhauta Express blast cases, had killed him.
A special court in Panchkula on Friday declined the application of National Investigation Agency seeking further custody of Kamal Chauhan, a disgruntled Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh worker arrested by the investigation agency, in connection with the Samjhauta Express blast.
A Mumbai-based software engineer, who claimed to have inadvertently crossed over to Pakistan in 2007 via the Samjhauta Express and was jailed there for five years, was repatriated on Thursday. Bhavesh Parmar, 33, a resident of Ville Parle area in Mumbai, crossed over to India from Attari in Punjab. He was received by his mother Hansa Kanti and Member of Legislative Assembly Krishna Hegde, who helped the family take up the matter.
The over five-year-long search to find Geeta's family led to Parbhani in Maharashtra, where she is now being trained in sign language by Pahal, an NGO working for the hearing and speech impaired.
At least 10 people, who were allegedly involved in a spate of terror attacks in different parts of the country, had links with the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh or its affiliated organisations, Union Home Secretary R K Singh said on Tuesday.
Alleged Samjhauta express bomber Rajendra Chaudhary has 'confessed' that it was he who fired at S A R Geelani, who was acquitted in the Parliament attack case in 2001. But Geelani alleges that Chaudhary was just a pawn and says that the system was behind it, since there were many others who were unhappy with his acquittal. Vicky Nanjappa reports.
The National Investigation Agency on Monday told a court Rajender Chaudhary alias Pehalwan, who allegedly planted a bomb in Samjhauta Express in 2007, played a key role in the entire operation, claiming he was instrumental in preparing and procuring the explosive devices.Pehalwan, in his mid-30s, was arrested by the NIA on Saturday night from Nagda, 50 km from Ujjain, where he was living under an assumed name.
The Lt Colonel Shrikant Purohit case has taken a pretty interesting turn. The claim of the suspected mastermind of 2007 Samjhauta Express bombing and other terror cases that he was not one of the terrorists but an infiltrator on a military intelligence operation has certainly raised eyebrows.
A petition making a shocking revelation was filed before the Ajmer and Bhopal courts recently alleging that the National Investigation Agency had allegedly tried to bribe two accused to name three senior Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh leaders in the murder of Sunil Joshi, an accused in the Samjhauta blasts case.
Kamal Chauhan, a disgruntled Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh worker arrested by the National Investigation Agency, had planted bombs on board Samjhauta Express in 2007 after undergoing training in arms and explosives in Haryana and Madhya Pradesh, the agency claimed on Tuesday.
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